Chapter 6: Answers
The dragons were always portrayed to be ancient and powerful entities who lived for thousands of years and were full of knowledge and wisdom, yet Eli never really felt any of that from his jailer.
To Eli, the dragon always looked more like an annoyed babysitter than a heavenly being or a monster.
But right now, as he gazed upon the towering stature of the glistening beast, he realized that all his previous speculations were nothing but illusions.
The dragon which stood before him now looked as majestic as the king of heavens, and the red wings on his back gave his entire appearance a devilish touch, giving him the aura of a monarch. And coupled with its mesmerizing eyes, it became an object of worship and fear.
But suddenly, the dragon's aura disappeared and it looked at Eli with an impassive face, but there was still a hint of sadness in its eyes.
The dragon spoke with his hoarse voice, but this time, they contained a bit of authority in them.
"Do you really not remember who Thrym is?"
Eli knew that he had gotten in too deep to chicken out, and he didn't really wanted to either. He had already lost everything and even killed himself, so there really was nothing left for him to fear.
Looking the dragon straight into the eyes, Eli spoke in a loud and clear voice," Are you going to hit me again if I say no?"
The dragon's eyes widened a bit as Eli said that, and with a low voice, he replied," No, that... that was a mistake on my part, I failed to keep the curse under control."
"The curse?" Eli asked in a curious voice.
"You... Did you forget everything? Even the battle? What about me? Do you remember who I am?"
"N-No, I only remember things that happened in the last week, but before that, everything is just cloudy and unclear." Eli stuttered a bit because of the dragon suddenly asking so many questions.
After taking a long look at Eli, the dragon sighed and said in a tired tone," Perhaps that is for the better. Those memories would've just chained you down and prevented you from living your life to the fullest. But... those memories weren't just yours, they contained the final moments of your tribe, your family...
Your father.
The moments you spent with them were something to be cherished, but now they're gone. They're now just buried in your mind, only to waiting to disappear as the sole person who could've passed down their legends forgot everything.
Njal... Your duty is now over. You can leave."
With a flick of the dragon's hands, the glowing of the runes which were responsible for keeping Eli safe in the cave disappeared.
The dragon also left the cave a few moments later, leaving Eli shocked at the development that just took place.
'I'm free? Just like that? Isn't it going to at least try to make me remember? And my name is Njal?'
Although Eli usually would've been jumping with joy after regaining his freedom, the parting with the dragon left a bad taste in his mouth. And the final look the dragon gave Eli as he flew away, it almost looked like it was... disappointed?
'Well, it doesn't matter anymore. The dragon's gone with the answer to my questions, and it doesn't look like he'll be coming back. I guess it's finally time to find explore this world and begin my journey.'
Eli was already full of energy after his body absorbed the dragon's blood and the snowstorm outside had long stopped, leaving only a few inches of snow which was soon to melt because of the sun that was shining brightly outside, occasionally being blocked by the clouds that were sailing across the wide blue sky.
Eli walked outside slowly, and after confirming that the wall was indeed no longer there, broke into a full sprint.
"Ah... Finally I'm free."
Eli kept running straight without looking back, making a beeline through the snow towards the trees in the distance. He had a couple of goals in his mind, find a source of food and shelter before the sun goes down, gather information about the monsters and see if he could actually level up.
One would expect a giant to be on the slower side due to their size, but Eli seemed as if he was riding the wind. Even the snow could do nothing to slow him and down and within minutes, he arrived near the forest.
But he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
'What's wrong with these trees?'
Eli could sense that the temperature of the trees was almost exactly the same as the environment, almost as if they were a non-living thing with no energy of their own.
'Fake trees? But why is there a forest made of fake trees in the middle of nowhere?'
Focusing on his sensing ability to increase it's range, Eli felt something deep beneath the forest. Millions of tiny little sources of heat were present underground, along with a massive one in the shape of a huge ball which was much closer to the surface than the other sources.
'So many creatures. This must be some kind of underground city, but where is the entrance?'
Eli focused on his ability again, but this time, instead of increasing the range, he increased the sensitivity of his ability.
After focusing for a bit, he was finally able to sense some abnormalities. And then a lot more. And then even more.
Countless hollow cylindric objects were buried all over the forest, each one having a tunnel below them, connecting them to the city below.
'Elevators?' That was the first thing that Eli thought of after seeing them.
Going above one of the cylindric objects, Eli removed the snow and after digging a bit of dirt, he discovered a circular metallic plate.
'This is probably the roof of the elevator.'
After seeing no way inside of them, he was about to try and punch a hole through the object to forcefully get inside, but luckily for the elevator and his fists, he sensed a group of people underground slowly moving upwards, most likely using the elevator to come up to the surface.
Quickly finding a spot that was covered with trees but also had enough space to safely spy on the exit gate of the elevator, he ran there and laid on the ground. There was no way he wouldn't be caught spying in the body of a giant if he didn't lay down.
The wait for the rise of the elevator was painfully slow, but it finally finished it's journey and reached the top. The roof of the elevator slowly opened and three humans jumped out. All three of them had an extremely similar build and equipment.
All of them were of average height and had a lean figure. For weapons, they each had one bow, one quiver full of arrows and a pair of daggers on them, and when paired with the light leather armor and the white hood they wore, they definitely resembled an assassin.
As Eli was observing them, one of them gave the others a sign and they instantly split up and disappeared from Eli's vision.
Even though Eli could no longer see them, he had other means of detecting them. And he could tell that they were trying to surround him based on their heat signatures.
'How do they know my location? I'm sure they didn't even look in my direction before moving.'
Not seeing any point in hiding, Eli stood up from his spot and got ready for a violent confrontation. He would rather not hurt other people but if he definitely didn't want to come off as someone who was a coward.
As Eli was waiting in his spot and mentally preparing the words he was going to use to persuade them that he's not here to fight but for shelter, he sensed one of the archer stop around thirty meters behind him. Turning around to take a better look, he saw the archer knocking his bow and aiming it straight at his face.
Time slowed down as the arrow was released and suddenly, his pupils expanded and he could see each and every detail of it clearly.
It had a sharp arrowhead made of pristine white metal which was laced with a purple liquid, most likely poison. The body of the arrow was made of a black metal which glistened in the sunlight and it's tail had red feathers around it.
Rather than attempting to process that information, Eli's head jerked to left, making the arrow pierce his cheek instead of his brain.
'Huh? Why the hell are they trying to kill me? I didn't even do anything.'
"Why are you attacking me?!!" Eli screamed, with rage creeping it's way into his voice.
Eli didn't feel much pain since his body was mostly numb, most likely having to do something with the [Frost Giant Warrior] aspect or the [Born of Frost] attribute.
But one thing he did feel was anger.
As surprising as it is, getting shot with a poison-laced arrow in the face is really effective way to get pissed off.
'Fuck, wasn't this covered in poison? Is this how I die again? By a damn arrow?'
Eli quickly removed the arrow from his face and hoped that it wasn't some laced with some poison that would instantly kill him, and then instantly dashed off in the direction of the arrow.
The instant he moved from his spot, two arrows were shot and barely missed him due to his dash.
'If he has the poison, then he should also have the antidote, right?'
The archer that hit him was surprised at the sudden dash and decided to retreat, hoping that his comrades would shoot the monster that was now chasing him.
Eli knew he only had a couple more seconds left before he would be shot from behind, so summoning all the strength he could muster, he ran as fast as him giant legs could carry him... and then jumped.
Now in the sky, Eli aimed to land right in front of the running archer so that his comrades wouldn't fire their arrows, but to his surprise, the archer, seeing the shadow of the giant hovering above him, did a dive jump, hoping to avoid the landing path of the giant.
Unfortunately for him, he landed in the exact spot that Eli planned, and as Eli was already in the air, he had no way of changing his direction.
*CRUNCH*
With a gut-churning sound, Eli's feet crushed the skull of the archer.
[You have slain a dormant human, name unknown.]
Eli heard his system whisper something, but he was a mere second away from getting shot, so there was no chance of him paying any attention to that.
In fact, Eli's mind didn't even register that he killed someone. All he could think about at the moment was how to protect himself from the arrows that were about to be launched at him.
As soon as Eli landed, he grabbed the legs of the headless corpse and held it in the air as a meat shield while crouching to try and cover as much of his body as he could. The wound caused by the arrow was slowly starting to burn now, and Eli was sure it was the because of the poison.
Two arrows were shot just as the corpse was lifted into the air, and thankfully they landed on its stomach instead of hitting Eli.
The other two archers, after seeing that their comrade's head was missing and his body was being used as a meat shield, quickly retreated.
Sensing that his enemies were running back, he quickly dragged the corpse behind a tree and began searching the it's body and soon enough, he found a small medieval style pouch.
Not caring about the damage, the ripped the string which was closing the pouch and saw two glass vials filled with a green liquid and three more vial filled with a purple liquid, all sealed off with a cork.
As soon as he saw the green vials, he took out both of them and immediately drank one and poured the other on his wound. He wasn't sure whether the antidote had to be ingested or had to be applied on the wound, so he chose both the options instead.
As both the vials became empty, Eli's tunnel vision finally ended and he looked at the headless corpse with wide eyes, recalling the memories of his previous life.
'Always remember that your choices are what form your being. No one wants to be the bad guy, yet somewhere along the way, people get trapped within the chains of the world, losing their ability to decide their own path. And when they break out and regain control, it's already too late. So, don't be a coward like me, son. Forge your own path, surround yourself with good people and know that I will always be with you, no matter what. Take care of your Mom for me, will ya?'
"Tch, making me remember such a cursed memory."
Eli shook his head as if trying to forget something, and then sat next to the headless archer. He surprisingly didn't feel much when looking at the dead body aside from some disgust, probably because this was not the first time he had witnessed such a scene.
Keeping his ability fully active to detect dangers before they could strike, Eli took a look at the loot that the dead archer had.
Unfortunately for him, the daggers and the bow were way too small to be used as his weapons, and the cloak, which he could've somehow managed to use as a shirt, was also soaked in blood. The only somewhat useful thing that Eli could use were the poison vials, and even those were situational.
With a sigh, he took the vials and got up, picked the body with both of his hands and threw it as far away as he could.
'That should buy me some time if they decide to look for the body.'
"Now, time to see what those damn rats are up to."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
mollyql
mollyql Sorry for the delayed chapter... wait I don't even have a schedule.
Anyways, your reviews are greatly appreaciated so please try to give some, see ya soon.
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